The present invention relates to a blood-compatible supramolecular material, and more particularly, to a blood-compatible material of a supramolecular structure, capable of suppressing the metabolism of platelets.
Medical apparatus which are brought into contact with blood, such as artificial organs, extracorporeal blood circulation circuits and blood bags, are required to have a highly reliable blood compatibility.
Conventionally, such medical apparatus are made of polyolefin-based resins such as polypropylene and polyethylene, since such resins have a high mechanical strength and they can be easily formed. However, the conventional polymeric materials used for manufacturing the medical apparatus are not blood-compatible. Thus the conventional medical apparatus must be used along with an anti-blood coagulant. However, in consideration of possible adverse influences on human body or blood, the time of continuous use of the anti-blood coagulant is limited. Accordingly, the medical care which employs such a conventional medical apparatus is very much limited in terms of time.
Under these circumstances, a great number of researches have been and are presently conducted in order to develop a material exhibiting an excellent blood compatibility. As a typical example thereof, there is a method of fixing an anti-thrombus agent, such as heparin, on a surface of a medical care apparatus, which is brought into contact with blood. However, such a method requires a treatment of fixing the anti-thrombus agent for each and every medical apparatus, and therefore it is not efficient and further entails the drawback of lowering the anti-thrombus property, caused by, for example, peeling off of the anti-thrombus agent.